Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

27:1-5 - You would think that the “reading of the will” portion of the birthright would be a big deal within the family/clan as this was the moment that everyone found out what the sons were getting for inheritance, even if the matter of who was getting the most and taking over the family was already decided. As for the little family that we’ve been following, of which Isaac is the head, it has been settled already that Jacob would be receiving the larger portion and the head position in the family because of the whole soup/birthright mess. Interestingly, for an occasion that has such substantial consequences, when it comes time to give his “birthright blessing,” or “read his will,” Isaac seems quite nonchalant, and sneaky about the whole thing. He doesn’t seem to mention it to his wife, or even the other son that is involved. Isaac simply pulls Esau aside and basically says, “hey I’m old and will die soon, go hunt some game and make me the food that I like and then I’ll tell you what...

As far as I know, each legitimate son is entitled to a portion of the inheritance, whereas the illegitimate sons are not, though they can receive “gifts” from their father just like we saw Abraham do. When it comes to the inheritance that the legitimate sons receive, I think it’s all supposed to be split evenly between the boys, except for the oldest which receives the “birthright” that includes not only a double portion of the inheritance, but also takes over as the leader of the clan meaning that he also assumes the father’s authority and responsibility for the welfare of those that his father cared for. The designation for the child who will receive this double portion is called the “birthright,” so it’s not as much of a specific amount of say money or property, but instead is a more abstract concept of “this is the boy who will take over for dad.” In other words, the order of his “birth” is what qualified him to receive the “right” of assuming his father’s position when the time co...

26:15-22 - A man could have all the flocks and herds and servants that he wants but what is the most valuable commodity in the desert? Water. Water is a precious resource that was fought over anciently, just like it is now. The Philistines were already envious of Isaac’s blessings from God, but when it came to the water, the Philistines were on another level. Verse 15 says that the wells which Abraham’s servants dug, “the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.” I don’t know if they did this on purpose as a kind of sabotage so that Isaac’s animals and crops would suffer and die, or if it was one of those things where Isaac hadn’t been around that area for a while so they filled it in because it left more water for another well or something, I don’t really know very much about ancient agriculture. Abimelech had noticed that Isaac was being blessed by God, so he asked Isaac to leave their area “for thou art much mightier than we.” I would imagine that Isaac’s wealth an...

26:1-10 - Chapter 26 is an interesting one because it’s long, 35 verses, and the IM doesn’t have anything to say about it. Living in the land of ancient Canaan, there is another famine. I always assumed that famine was just basically a constant state of being in the ancient world, especially considering that this area is considered the birth place of civilization, Mesopotamia. I guess there is a 400-600 mile difference but I assume that this is a close enough distance that the weather patterns of one area would affect the crop yield of the other. So there’s another famine and Isaac “went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.” This is a different Abimelech from before, I think the name Abimelech is more used to signify the current monarch, like is the custom in so many cultures. The land of ancient Canaan today encompasses, “the territory of the southern Levant… Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, and the southern portions of Syria and Lebanon.” Concerning this place, ...

25:27-29 - These two babies are born “and the boys grew,” and it seems like they couldn’t have been more different. Esau is described as “a cunning hunter, a man of the field,” whereas Jacob “was a plain man, dwelling in tents.” The implication in this verse is that these descriptions should lend some weight one way or another in our understanding of the personal characteristics of these men. But to me, I thought that they both would have lived in tents, and couldn’t identify any reason why living in a tent made someone a better person than why not living in one would make someone a bad person. Interestingly though, the word “plain” is referenced in the footnotes saying, “HEB whole, complete, perfect, simple, plain,” meaning that according to the writer of this account, Jacob was very close to being the perfect man, which of course I disagree with. Esau was a hunter and Jacob, did something else I guess, and the parents both had their favorites, which really makes me wonder just what ...

25:11-26 - I really like the Torah Class app and I’m learning a lot but when we got to these verses that discuss Ishmael’s sons, the teacher went into a anti-Muslim, pro-Israeli rant and I really didn’t like it. I am pro-Palestinian and love Muslims so it really kind of irritated me, so if you are listening to those classes, know that I like a lot of the information that they put out but I don’t like all of it. Ishmael lived to be 137 years old and had at least 12 sons, also known as “twelve princes according to their nations.” It would seem like Isaac’s line wasn’t the only prolific progeny. Isaac marries Rebekah but “she was barren,” and unlike what happened with his father, Isaac didn’t take any concubines that we know of, nor did Rebekah urge him to. They seemed perfectly content to wait upon the Lord. Now there are several factors here that are different, Isaac and Rebekah aren’t elderly, so it’s possible that when Abraham and Sarah were that same age, they were also content to w...